WINDSOR, Vt.- After holding off an aggressive Bellows Falls team for the first twenty minutes Tuesday, Windsor boys soccer rattled off three goals before halftime and four more in the second half, beating the Terriers 7-0 for their first win of 2018.
Bellows Falls came out firing in the opening minutes, and it almost paid off for them at the 24 minute mark in the first. A throw-in from John Donovan near the right corner led to a nice look by Owen Perry in front of the net, but the shot hit the right post. The rebound bounced perfectly to Elijah Ghia on the left side of the net and Ghia struck a shot. Windsor’s keeper, Eli Milligan, made an impressive save moving to his right to keep the game scoreless.
After holding off the Terriers push, Windsor was able to put two scores on the board over the next five minutes. Yellow Jackets head coach Steve Mulloy knew how important that save by Milligan was, saying, “It dramatically swung the balance of the game. Eli is amazing. In our first two games… if he wasn’t between the sticks you could basically double the score. He’s a huge part of what we’re doing and it’s great to have somebody back there to make those big saves.”
Hunter Grela scored on the right side of the BF defense at the 20 minute mark and BF scored an own goal on the next possession to put Windsor up 2-0.
At 6:30 left in the first half, Elliot Richardson nearly scored for Windsor, delivering a nice touch on a ball headed for the top-right corner of the net, but BF’s keeper made a nice save. Luckily for the Yellow Jackets, they scored on the ensuing play, as Grela’s corner kick found the cleat of Tyler Wright who put it in the back of the net with nice placement to the left side of the keeper.
Windsor began to control almost every aspect of the game in the second half. Daniel Cardillo scored twice in the half, and Dylan Hodgdon and Andrew Kelly-Jacobs each put on the net.
Tuesday was the first game that first year head coach Mulloy has seen his full varsity squad ready to play, as they have been dealing with early injuries. But, for a new coach and a new system being put into place, the Yellow Jackets looked smooth, specifically in the second half.
“It’s good to get our first win after two tough games against Arlington and Twin Valley,” said coach Mulloy post-game. “We certainly didn’t play our best… we came out a little flat, but we did what we had to do to get the win. There’s still a lot we need to focus on going forward. There’s going to be a lot of kinks to be worked out.”
BF falls to 0-3 on the season and will next host MSJ on Thursday. Windsor moves to 1-2 and will take part in the Josh Cole Tournament in Ludlow on Friday.
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